Authorities: "COVID-19, Eradication Difficult... Explosive Increase Possible Anytime" (Update)

Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for COVID-19 (Director of the National Institute of Health)

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The quarantine authorities have stated that it is virtually impossible for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in South Korea to completely disappear. This is due to the virus's characteristic of spreading easily to others even without symptoms. With the epidemic still ongoing, they believe that large-scale cluster infections can occur at any time.

On the 28th briefing, Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19, said, "It is true that the efforts of medical staff and the public have achieved results in reducing the explosive and rapid scale and speed of COVID-19 transmission," but added, "COVID-19 continues to occur in the community, and eradication is practically out of reach."

COVID-19 is characterized by a high number of asymptomatic or mild cases, which distinguishes it from other viruses. When symptoms appear, diagnostic testing and isolation measures are easily implemented, but for asymptomatic or mild cases, such measures are difficult to enforce, making it challenging for quarantine authorities. In particular, the authorities assess that a large amount of virus is shed even before symptoms appear, increasing the likelihood of infecting others nearby.

Deputy Head Kwon stated, "It is understood that one patient can cause more than 40% of the total infections before symptoms appear," and added, "It has a quiet yet difficult-to-manage transmission pattern."

He also said, "We are preparing to investigate immunity through community antibody surveys, but we judge that the likelihood of high antibody levels is not high," and added, "Even if antibody levels are high, there is no evidence yet to accept that herd immunity has formed and provides defense." He further noted that some experts are already speculating about the possibility of natural immunity despite no treatment having been developed yet.

It was also announced that although 13 days have passed since the general election was held, there have been no infection cases related to it. It is expected to be remembered as a case where life quarantine was practiced together with the authorities in charge of election affairs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.